wt virtually underwater, at least two-thirds of the city. and to see 7 1/2 years later the city rebound, the people of new orleans and louisiana are just foremost in my thoughts right now for their fighting spirit, theirry sell yancy, their unwilling -- their resiliency, their unwillingness to give occupy this special place in will celebrate its 300th birthday in 2018. and i want to say a special thank you to mayor landrieu, john young, the leaders of st. bernard and plaquemines. those parishes were virtually destroyed. lower part of jefferson parish. the whole region has come back. the world could see it for themselves yesterday. the civic leadership, the faith-based leadership, and, again, a shout out to president obama, his cabinet and the members on both sides of the aisle that stood by this region, the gulf coast, to rebuild after all of these years. and, mr. president, in conclusion, it's my only hope that after passing the sandy supplemental we will stand united with the northeast as they rebuild bigger, better, stronger, hosting the